Southern tradition instists on serving black-eyed peas and cabbage on New Year's Day. I never really knew why, until I looked it up online. Apparantly the black-eyed pea tradition comes from Civil War times when the peas were grown mostly to feed livestock. When crops were burned or otherwise destroyed, the peas were ignored, and therefore were considered good luck (because there was nothing else to eat.)
Other traditions say that the peas represent coins, while greens (cabbage in my neck of the woods, but some places use mustard or collard greens instead) represent cash. The more you eat on New Year's Day, the more you will aquire during the year to come.
Whatever the reason, we'll be cooking up a big pot of black-eyed peas, and a big pot of cabbage to eat for our New Year's Day meal. (Or just after midnight, and then again all day!)
Happy Cooking, and Happy New Year!
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